1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to eating utensils, and more particularly to a utensil that is a combination tweezer, tong and chopstick.
2. Description of Prior Art
A majority of "traditional" tableware utensils actually contain a plethora of structural and design flaws. These flaws range from something as surreal as their lack of universal compatibility, down to their profound inability to function in other multi-tasking ways. As such, these traditional designs call into question many troubling consequences. Among those, are the differing types of materials they use; their lack of ease-of-use, non-ergonomic features; and finally, various considerations for consumer's usages and culinary safety itself In summary, there are a host of "elements" that comprise egregiously flawed, inherently problematic, and injury prone utensils. Ultimately, hindering the consumer's need to efficiently manage tableware utensils.
Today, consumers engage in a broad range of culinary activities. Most of our needs have been met in striking ways by an overabundance of gizmos and gadgets already in the marketplace. In this group, are the familiar arrays of traditional kitchenware utensils, which include: tongs, skewers, forks, knives, spoons and chopsticks. As alluded to above, these "traditional" devices are not without their faults, including their inability to satisfactorily manage their basic functional tasks, much less more specialized missions from which they were intended.
It is strongly believed that current tableware utensils have categorically failed to please the discerning consumer in several specific ways. Areas that correspond to seven separate categories we call "preferred utensil characteristics", which are essentially categorized attributes that are critical to identifying universal compatibility among a majority cross-section of the population. These varieties will be examined and evaluated as we proceed.
Inasmuch as design flaws in prior art attempts can be compared and categorized against preferred design features, weighing the relative strengths and weakness of each prior art attempt, a comprehensive list of preferred utensil categories becomes evident. They are: universal compatibility, morsel management, multi-tasking functions, use of a flexible material, safety, a single-piece design, and lastly, the utensil's ability to provide a high degree of ergonomic objectivity during meals. These seven categories will be examined in the following section, and scrutinized against a select grouping of prior art designs.